Steve Bannon, the podcaster and former chief strategist to Donald Trump, has pleaded guilty to a fraud charge as part of a plea deal to avoid jail time.
Bannon faced New York state charges of scheming to defraud donors via the non profit We Build The Wall Inc., which raised money to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border.
Bannon previously faced federal charges over the fundraising non profit, but was pardoned by Donald Trump as he left office at the end of his first term.
Bannon plead guilty to one of five counts in the indictment, a scheme to defraud, per ABC News. He plead not guilty to all charges brought in 2022.
The indictment claimed that Bannon and the non profit We Build The Wall Inc. defrauded donors out of more than $15 million, and then they laundered the proceeds to conceal the fraud. Bannon and We Build the Wall were charged with two counts of money laundering in the second degree, two counts of conspiracy in the fourth degree, one count of a scheme to defraud in the first degree and one count of conspiracy in the fifth degree.
Bannon served a four-month prison sentence last year for contempt of Congress, after he refused to comply with a congressional subpoena related to the January 6th investigation.
